Avempace facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ibn Bajja
Ibn Bājja |
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| ابن باجة | |
An imaginary sketch representing Ibn Bajja, 1961
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| Born | c. 1085 |
| Died | 1138 (aged 52–53) |
| Nationality | Andalusian |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomer, philosopher, physician, physicist, poet, scientist |
| Influences | Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Al-Farabi |
| Influenced | Ibn Tufail, Al-Bitruji, Averroes, Moses Maimonides |
Ibn Bajja, also known as Avempace, was an amazing thinker from Al-Andalus (which is now Spain). He was born around 1085 and passed away in 1138. He was a true polymath, meaning he was skilled in many different areas.
Ibn Bajja wrote about astronomy, physics, and music. He also studied philosophy, medicine, botany, and poetry.
One of his famous books was Kitāb an-Nabāt, or "The Book of Plants." In this book, he talked about how plants reproduce. His ideas about philosophy also influenced later thinkers like Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Albertus Magnus. Sadly, many of his writings were not finished because he died at a young age.
Avempace was also a well-known musician and poet. His collection of poems, called a diwan, was found again in 1951. Even though many of his works are lost, his ideas in astronomy and physics were saved by other famous scholars. These ideas later influenced important scientists like Galileo Galilei in Europe.
He wrote one of the first detailed comments on the works of Aristotle in the Western world. His thoughts on how objects move (projectile motion) were very important. Even though his work wasn't translated into Latin, his ideas spread widely. They even influenced Galileo's studies much later.
Contents
Who Was Ibn Bajja?
Avempace was born in Zaragoza, a city in what is now Aragon, Spain, around the year 1085. He died in Fes, Morocco, in 1138.
During his youth, the rulers of Zaragoza changed often. In 1114, a new governor named Ibn Tifilwit took charge. Avempace became good friends with him. He enjoyed music and wine with the governor. He also wrote poems praising Ibn Tifilwit, who then made him his vizier (a high-ranking advisor).
Once, Avempace was put in jail for a few months during a diplomatic trip. The reasons for this are not clear. In 1116, Ibn Tifilwit was killed in a battle. Avempace wrote sad poems to honor him.
Avempace was also a talented singer and composer. Early in his career, he wrote a book called Risālah fī l-alḥān (Tract on melodies). He also added his own thoughts to a music book by al-Fārābī. He studied how different melodies relate to each other. A writer named al-Maqqarī said that Avempace loved music because it could "take away sadness and pain." He often used his scientific knowledge and cleverness in his poems.
Life After Zaragoza
After Zaragoza was captured in 1118, Avempace found safety with another ruler, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin, in Xàtiba. He worked as Yusuf Ibn Tashfin's vizier for about twenty years.
During this time, Avempace didn't get along as well with the people around the ruler as he had before. Writings show that there were disagreements between Avempace and others. He was even put in prison twice by the Sultan. The reasons for these imprisonments are not fully known.
Despite these difficulties, Avempace stayed with the Almoravid empire until he died in 1138. Some evidence suggests he might have been poisoned by his rivals. A writer named al-Maqqarī mentioned that a doctor, Abu l-'Ala' Ibn Zuhr, was an enemy of Avempace. This doctor's servant was suspected of poisoning Avempace, but was never found guilty. One of Avempace's teachers was Abu Jafar ibn Harun, a physician from Seville.
Ibn Bajja's Ideas
Ibn Bajja was a very important Islamic philosopher. Some people, like Ibn Tufail, criticized his work. However, even his critics respected him. Ibn Tufayl said that Ibn Bajja had one of the sharpest minds and best ways of thinking among the scholars of his time.
During Avempace's era, Islamic philosophy was divided into two main groups. The Eastern group was led by Avicenna, and the Western group was led by Ibn Bajja. Avempace's philosophical writings are sometimes incomplete, but they show how original his ideas were. His main philosophical work is an unfinished book called Governance of the Solitary.
Key Philosophical Works
When he traveled to Egypt, Avempace wrote Risālat al-wadāʿ (Letter of Bidding Farewell) and Risālat al-ittiṣāl al-ʿaql bi al-insān (Letter on the Union of the Intellect with Human Beings). Other famous works include Tadbīr al-mutawaḥḥid (Management of the Solitary) and Kitāb al-nafs (Book on the Soul). These important works were written later in his life.
Avempace's philosophy was inspired by Aristotle. It has two main ideas: solitude and conjunction.
- Solitude means a philosopher lives alone to avoid bad influences from society.
- Conjunction means a philosopher tries to connect with the highest form of intelligence. This is important for the human soul to grow.
These ideas can be hard to understand. However, the main goal of his system was to explain how the human mind can connect with a higher, active intelligence.
The Perfect City and Soul
Ibn Bajja liked Plato's ideas about philosophy. Plato believed that a perfect city should be like a perfect human soul. Avempace, however, thought the opposite. He wanted to use the idea of a perfect city as a model for the human soul.
Avempace imagined a perfect city where only truth and true science existed. Any person or idea that went against these truths was called a "weed." Weeds could only be found in imperfect cities.
He also wrote about what makes a perfect person. He believed that a perfect person needs both physical and spiritual health. Avempace explained that the soul has two parts:
- An acquired intellect, which comes from experiences in the physical world.
- An active intellect, which is not based on the physical world.
A perfect person can live in either a perfect or an imperfect city. But if they live in an imperfect city, they should stay away from society. This is because an imperfect city is full of "weeds." To protect themselves, perfect people need to live in solitude, even if it feels unnatural.
Medicine and Reality
Avempace wrote nine books about medicine. He believed that medical knowledge comes from experience. Experience is gained through what a person sees and feels throughout their life. He saw experience as a very important part of medicine.
Avempace also had a theory about all of reality. He said reality comes in many forms, including motion and action. He divided these into natural and artificial.
- Natural reality involves bodies moving with their own power.
- Artificial reality involves bodies that are moved by something else, often by human design.
He also described the human soul as having three stages:
- The plant stage: where the soul gets nourishment and grows.
- The animal stage: where the soul experiences sensations.
- The human stage: where the soul gains common sense, imagination, and memory.
Avempace believed the soul has no geometric shape. He thought its form is beyond our understanding of shapes, meaning it exists on a higher level than what we can see with our bodies. He was influenced by the ideas of Plato and Aristotle on this topic.
Influence on Jewish Philosophy
Ibn Bajja's philosophical and astronomical works influenced many Jewish philosophers during and after his life.
- Judah Halevi, a Jewish philosopher, was influenced by Ibn Bajja's ideas. He wrote that a person can connect with a higher intelligence during their lifetime. He also believed that philosophers should live a solitary life.
- Moses Maimonides, a very famous Jewish philosopher, admired Avempace. Maimonides said that Ibn Bajja "was a great and wise philosopher, and all of his works are right and correct." Maimonides used Ibn Bajja's ideas in his own major work, The Guide for the Perplexed. He used Avempace's ideas about a single intellect after death and how humans can connect with a higher intelligence.
Avempace believed that true happiness comes from science and finding the truth. He thought that to be spiritually healthy and happy, we must gain knowledge and search for what is true.
Astronomy
In his comments on Aristotle's book Meteorology, Avempace shared his own idea about the Milky Way galaxy.
- Aristotle thought the Milky Way was caused by hot gases from stars in the upper atmosphere.
- Another scholar, Ibn al-Bitriq, believed it was only a heavenly event, caused by stars being very close together.
- Avempace had a different view. He thought the Milky Way was a mix of both: a phenomenon in the spheres above the moon and in the region below the moon.
Avempace also said he saw "two planets as black spots on the face of the Sun." Later, in the 13th century, an astronomer thought this might have been the transit of Venus and transit of Mercury. However, we know now that there were no Venus transits during Avempace's lifetime.
Avempace worked with a mathematician named Ibn al-Sayyid. He was allowed to add his own comments to Ibn al-Sayyid's work on geometry and Euclid's Elements. Avempace saw astronomy as a part of mathematics. His model of the universe used circles moving around a center, but without smaller circles (epicycles).
Physics
Averroes, another important philosopher, was born shortly before Avempace died. Later, Averroes often disagreed with Avempace's theories.
Avempace had a good way of describing motion and saw it as a force. For objects falling freely, he believed that the object itself is what moves, and its 'gravity' or 'nature' is what pulls it down.
He used the example of dust particles to explain natural movements. Dust particles float in the air and fall slowly. Even though they have enough power to go down, it's not enough to push the air out of the way underneath them.
Avempace largely agreed with Aristotle's ideas on how objects move when thrown (projectile motion). While there isn't a full book by Avempace on this, he gave a short explanation in his comments on Aristotle's Physics. He used the example of a magnet and iron pieces. Magnets were a problem for Aristotle's theory because you can't see anything physically moving the iron. Avempace, however, thought that the magnet actually moves the air, which then moves the iron.
Avempace also criticized the ideas of Ptolemy. He worked on creating a new theory of velocity (speed) to replace Aristotle's. Two later philosophers, Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus, supported Avempace's ideas, known as Avempacean dynamics. Even Galileo Galilei later used Avempace's formula. Galileo said that "the velocity of a given object is the difference of the motive power of that object and the resistance of the medium of motion."
Botany
Avempace also made important contributions to the study of botany (plants). His book, Kitab al-nabat (The Book of Plants), was influenced by an earlier work called De Plantis.
In his book, Avempace described the shapes of different plants. He tried to group them based on how they looked similar. He also wrote about how plants reproduce and suggested they had different genders, based on what he saw in palm and fig trees. Kitab al-nabat was written in Arabic and has been translated into Spanish.
His work in botany was based on the ideas of Ibn al-Wafid, a physician who lived before him. It is also said to have influenced the later work of Ibn al-Baitar, a famous Arab expert on plants and medicines.
Music
Recently, a Spanish website reported that the music score of Avempace's Nuba al-Istihlál (from the 11th century) is very similar to the Marcha Granadera (from the 18th century). The Marcha Granadera is now the official anthem of Spain. This means that Avempace's music might be the oldest song (about a thousand years old) still used as a country's official anthem!
Tributes
In 2009, a crater on the Moon was named The Ibn Bajja crater. It is located near the Moon's South Pole and was named by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to honor him.
See also
In Spanish: Avempace para niños
